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| Wanted: a minister for a new UK | Wanted: a minister for a new UK |
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| Conflicting ideas about how we are going to improve our country. One, beloved of the right and their favoured newspapers, says we must do something about migrants. They come over here, loosen the ties that bind, cost us money and deleteriously impact upon the British culture. The prime minister hears that cry. Annual migration will be reduced by tens of thousands, he says, even within this parliament. | Conflicting ideas about how we are going to improve our country. One, beloved of the right and their favoured newspapers, says we must do something about migrants. They come over here, loosen the ties that bind, cost us money and deleteriously impact upon the British culture. The prime minister hears that cry. Annual migration will be reduced by tens of thousands, he says, even within this parliament. |
| But the other approach seems to me the right one. It says globalisation, with its ever-shifting currents, is going to mean more migration affecting all the major economies of the world – hopefully we are still one of them – and that migration, inevitably cross-cultural, will advance the British story. The key to this is management. This is quite an unpopular view right now, and the coming accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the list of countries whose citizens are eligible to move to the UK is making everyone more nervous. But if there is one area in which we excel, it is coming to terms with harsh realities. So here are some of those from independent advisers to the Treasury. | But the other approach seems to me the right one. It says globalisation, with its ever-shifting currents, is going to mean more migration affecting all the major economies of the world – hopefully we are still one of them – and that migration, inevitably cross-cultural, will advance the British story. The key to this is management. This is quite an unpopular view right now, and the coming accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the list of countries whose citizens are eligible to move to the UK is making everyone more nervous. But if there is one area in which we excel, it is coming to terms with harsh realities. So here are some of those from independent advisers to the Treasury. |
| Having run the rule over the finances, now and projected, the Office for Budget Responsibility once again confirms the point constantly being made by responsible analysts: we are going to need many, many more migrants. Last year immigration fell by 89,000 to 153,000. But, says the OBR, we need hundreds of thousands of new migrants every year – not tens – just to keep the finances stable over the next half-century. And the nightmare scenario? If all immigration stopped from 2016, growth would slow and the public debt burden would rocket to 174%. That won't happen. No one would ban all migrants. But with an ageing population and recurring predictions such as these, the stakes are clear. | Having run the rule over the finances, now and projected, the Office for Budget Responsibility once again confirms the point constantly being made by responsible analysts: we are going to need many, many more migrants. Last year immigration fell by 89,000 to 153,000. But, says the OBR, we need hundreds of thousands of new migrants every year – not tens – just to keep the finances stable over the next half-century. And the nightmare scenario? If all immigration stopped from 2016, growth would slow and the public debt burden would rocket to 174%. That won't happen. No one would ban all migrants. But with an ageing population and recurring predictions such as these, the stakes are clear. |
| So let's think again about management. If migration is an essential part of the future, shouldn't we be taking it more seriously? Shouldn't a towering figure be banging heads together in Whitehall to impress upon colleagues the importance of cohesion and integration as a key discipline of government? Shaping rather than reacting. The secretary of state for communities and local government is Eric Pickles. His obsession is bin collections. M'lud, I rest my case. | So let's think again about management. If migration is an essential part of the future, shouldn't we be taking it more seriously? Shouldn't a towering figure be banging heads together in Whitehall to impress upon colleagues the importance of cohesion and integration as a key discipline of government? Shaping rather than reacting. The secretary of state for communities and local government is Eric Pickles. His obsession is bin collections. M'lud, I rest my case. |
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